If you’re selling your home in Midland, you know that you’ll be responsible for paying some closing costs – but are you ready for these five expenses?
5 Hidden Costs of Selling Your Home: Are You Prepared to Pay These Fees?
Selling a home costs money. That money can eat into the profits from the sale – but if you’re not making a huge profit, or if you need the profit from the sale to purchase your next home, you may not be as prepared as you should be for these five hidden costs of selling your home:
- Landscaping
- Utilities
- Capital gains tax
- Repairs and maintenance
- Staging
Here’s a closer look at each.
Hidden Home-Selling Cost #1: Landscaping
Before you put your home on the market, your REALTOR® will talk to you about boosting curb appeal. Curb appeal is the first impression prospective buyers get of your home, so it has to be a good one – and that means you may need to pay for professional landscaping services. If you’re handy in the yard and know what you’re doing, you can get by with a DIY job – but if you don’t have the time, inclination or experience to improve your outdoor landscape, it may be worthwhile to hire a professional.
Hidden Home-Selling Cost #2: Utilities
You have to keep the power on in your home while it’s on the market – even if you’ve already moved into your next home. Regardless of the season, you need conditioned air in the house to prevent mold and keep prospective buyers comfortable on home tours; you also need to keep the lights on so buyers can see what they may be getting into.
Related: How much income should go toward a monthly mortgage payment?
Hidden Home-Selling Cost #3: Capital gains tax
You only have to pay capital gains tax if your home has appreciated quite a bit over the time you’ve owned it. Capital gains tax is based on the difference between what you bought the house for and what you’re selling it for (with the value of improvements deducted). However, you can exclude up to $500,000 in profit from the sale if you’re a married couple filing jointly and up to $250,000 if you’re filing as a single taxpayer. You should consult with a tax professional for the most current rules – and remember, these numbers are subject to change.
Related: Can you remove pet odors from your home?
Hidden Home-Selling Cost #4: Repairs and maintenance
There’s a good chance that you’ll have to make repairs on your home to get it ready for the market – and the cost of those repairs comes from your pocket. Any routine maintenance you need to do is at your own expense, too. The alternative is selling your home as-is; that means the buyer agrees to purchase the home without you making any fixes. However, typically when you sell a home as-is, you charge less for it (because buyers are only willing to pay less for it).
Related: Want to become a real estate investor? Read this first!
Hidden Home-Selling Cost #5: Staging
Though you don’t need to hire a professional home stager, doing so could help you sell your home faster and for more money. Generally, staged homes sell a couple of weeks sooner than their non-staged counterparts do – and they can sell for up to 18 percent more. If you don’t hire a professional stager, you can DIY the job; just talk to your REALTOR® about what needs to be done. And if you do want to hire an expert, your REALTOR can help you find someone local who can help.
Are You Buying or Selling a Home in Midland, Texas?
Use our site to search homes for sale in Midland and all of our surrounding areas. Unlike the “big name” sites out there, our site is directly connected to our local MLS and is updated faster. By creating a property manager account you can stay on top of the newest homes for sale and get price change alerts so you can stay ahead of other buyers and beat them to the best deals!
In the meantime, check out these 1-click searches:
Leave A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.